Anime /
Shinkon Gattai Godannar!!

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In the past, Earth was under attack from an alien force called the "Mimetic Beasts". They carry the Insania Virus, which usually targets males and mutates them into monstrosities. The Hero, Goh Saruwatari, along with his partner Mira Ackerman, pilots the Humongous Mecha pair Dannar and Okusaer and led the final battle against the Hive Queen of the Mimetic Beasts, driving it away at the cost of Mira's life, but in the same time, Goh saved a young girl named Anna Aoi, the daughter of his boss. Attempting to get over Mira's death (whom he actually loved), Goh decided to move on and...proposed to Anna, despite the age gap (Anna's still a high school girl, Goh is...well, someone that would be of a tenured salaryman).

Five years later, all's set for Goh and Anna to get married. Anna already confirms her vow, but right before Goh can declare his...he gets an urgent call that the Mimetic Beasts are back and he needs to go pilot the Dannar and quell them again, thus forcing him to delay stating the vow to Anna. Frustrated, she tries to follow Goh, only to find the Neo Okusaer, sealed after Mira's death. Anna goes on to pilot it (since she's somehow a master of a similar riding game) and helps Goh, and thus their life as a newlywed couple and Humongous Mecha pilot commence. Their two mechs can even combine into the mighty Godannar, complete with a final attack that requires both of them working in tandem to pull off.

This show is notorious for the amount of fanservice presented, especially gainaxing. At the same time, it's unique in that it combines over-the-top super robot action with, of all things, a nice dose of Character Development: more exactly, an examination of marriage, as Goh and Anna face difficulties both on the battlefield and in their relationship.

This series provides examples of:

Accidental Adultery: Mira Ackerman, who was in a relationship with Goh, has been presumed dead for 5 years, but in reality has been in a coma. By the time Goh finds out, he has already been married to Anna.

Age-Gap Romance: Goh is a 29-year-old Salary Man, Anna is a 17-year-old schoolgirl. Subverted later, when Go is put into stasis and wakes up years later... and he and Anna are the same age, physically speaking.

All There in the Manual: Lou's surname is never mentioned or shown during the series. Likewise, you'd never guess the Valentine siblings aren't blood- related without Word of God informing you otherwise.

An Axe to Grind: The Goddiner, China's super robot, has a pair of huge tonfas that can be turned into even bigger axes... and into a pair of kusarigama... and can be joined together to form a drill. Yes, Goddiner RULES.

Mira Ackerman, killed while fighting Mimetic Beasts during the backstory, mysteriously reappears at the end of the first episode.

Shizuru Fujimura, killed at the end of the first season, gets resurrected by Mira's kiss.

Bait-and-Switch Credits: Specifically, the ending, which gives the impression that Anna's going to die, as are lots of other people, and doom and despair will ensue. The "Lake of Blood" doesn't help things, either, or the fact the song's called Trench Coffin!

Can't Catch Up: Subverted; the Godannar may be the most powerful robot on the good guys' side, but it doesn't have to do everything. Its component units, Dannar and Neo Okusaer, are more than capable of winning the day without combining, and the other robots in the series can more than hold their own as well (even Lou's teeny-tiny "Cosmo Diver"). Also, some units specialize in environments in which the Godannar's actually useless, like underwater/in space (Cosmo Diver) and aerial fighting ("Dragliner").

Both the Dannar and Neo Okusaer are launched by being dragged through the launching strip by a mechanical arm. Said arm pulls them by their crotch.

When Shizuru is doing her farewell speech, she says women aren't what they seem; they may be tough on the surface, but they're nice and soft on the inside. Cue a shot of the inside of the monster's mouth, which is meaty and wet and... let's just say a drill wouldn't look out of place inside it. She also destroys said mouth by shooting it with a nice, long, phallic cannon.

The official DVD promo points out the freudian implications of a husband and wife "combining".

Ecchi: Nothing too explicit, but the series is famous for its naughty humor.

Hot-Blooded: A massive subversion for mecha: the more hotblooded a guy is, especially a pilot, the more they're likely to succumb to the Insania Virus and enter "Rabid Syndrome". The only exception are perverted or submissive men...or Tetsuya Kouji.

Married to the Job: Protagonist Goh Saruwatari is married to Anna Aoi, daughter of his boss Dr. Kiriko Aoi, who is also now his mother-in-law.

Meaningful Name: "Okusaer" is taken from the word "okusa", which means "wife" in Japan. "Dannar" is taken from "danna", meaning "husband". "Godannar" is a combination of Project "God" and "Anna".

Mistress and Servant Boy: Ekaterina and Kukrachyov, the pilots of Valspinner, which actually used the combination command "Slave On". It even became a plot point of how submissive and "unmanly" Kukrachyov is when the male pilots one after the other flip out from the virus. Just to drive the point home, Shadow, one of America's lesbian pilots, is the only girl affected by it because she's the "manly" one of the two girls.

Ms. Fanservice: Nearly any notable female would count, but the trope champion of Godannar is undoubtedly Shizuru. Oh god, Shizuru!

In episode 2, Goh is reading a Newspaper that has the Marriage of Gai and Mikoto (of GaoGaiGar fame) as it's headline. This show is really all about shout outs from homages to attack names, seiyuu and character's names. There would be far too many to list.

The Tease: Shizuru does this Kouji with glee, which does nothing to squelch his ginormous crush on her. It's implied that since Shinobu like her too, she does this purposely get them to fight over her for the lulz.

Lou also goes through one when being trained to pilot by Ken, set to a training montage, to boot.

Transforming Mecha: The Cosmo Diver has a vehicle mode for underwater and space mobility in addition to a humanoid form. Dragliner first separates its somewhat underwhelming humanoid Real Robot cargo, and the remainder of the bomber goes into Beast Mode.

Tsundere: Deconstructed. Shizuru was this for Go, but she only managed to push him away from her. When she decided that she did love him... he was with Anna already.

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